About Down

Kluane has built an oustanding reputation on the quality of it’s products. Our products are, quite frankly, the finest obtainable anywhere. No other sleeping bags or garments offer the design and construction features or quality of Kluane products.

Why Down and not Feathers? Once you have seen a down pod floating in the air you will instantly know why. Virtually weightless, lots of loft and very clean. Feathers (very different from down) are inherently heavier and pack together. They have less insulating properties and can be less ‘healthy’ to wear.

Be careful where your jacket or sleeping bag is made and where the manufacturer gets their ‘down’! Our Canadian producers and suppliers take great care to ensure our down is clean!! We have had customers who say they are allergic to down, turns out they were allergic to improperly cleaned ‘feathers’ and the dander that came with it.

The Rules That We Live By

In Canada a garment must be 75% down to be labeled ‘Down’.

If it is less than 75% down then the percentage must be shown (ie 50% down, 50% feathers). But Be Careful! Only 75% of that 50% has to be down.

Example:

A jacket that has 120 grams of down and 120 grams of feathers, has a total of 240 grams.

75% of that 120 grams of down = 90 grams

90 grams of 240 grams = 37.5% . That is to say, that jacket may have as little as 37.5% actual down.

A garment, sleeping bag or quilt, that has a label reading:

90% down, 10% feathers has 67.5% actual down

80% down, 20% feathers has 60% actual down

70% down, 30% feathers has 52.5% actual down

60% down, 40% feathers has 45% actual down

50% down, 50% feathers has 37.5% actual down

But at Kluane:

We only use the finest obtainable PRIME GOOSE DOWN in out sleeping bags and garments, and we invite comparison with downs used by other bag and garment makers. Our down fills 850 cu.in. per ounce (and often as high as 900). To increase the efficiency of the down fill, the down for each compartment in Kluane products is calculated in advance and weighed to within 1 gram accuracy before being placed in the compartment. As a result…there are no overfilled or under filled compartments…..in a Kluane product you get Quality!!!